Friday, March 13, 2009

Tonight in a bar alone I'm sitting...

If I were sent to a deserted island and was told that, for music, I could bring only the complete catalogs of two artists, I'd probably pick two Bobs: Dylan and Wills. Each has a catalog that is deep, varied, and capable of holding up well after repeated listens.

(If a third artist were offered, I might take Miles, but that would mess up the Bob theme. Which two or three artists' catalogs would you take?)

The point is that the Texas Playboys' music is near and dear to my heart. Tonight's post features two great versions of one of my favorite Bob Wills' songs, which also happens to be about drinking, at least indirectly:

Bob Wills & The Texas Playboys – Bubbles In My Beer (buy album)

One more time:

Bob Wills & The Texas Playboys – Bubbles In My Beer (buy album)

Drink it all in... With a beer, of course.

10 comments:

Unknown said...

Bruce Springsteen, Johnny Cash and Linda Ronstadt.

Anonymous said...

Nice. No desert island would be complete without Bob D.

(Is Desolation Row a drinking song? The longest drinking song? The longest after drinking song? Pre-drinking?)

Thanks for both Bob W. versions.

Greg

Mark said...

Bob Wills is great, for one reason, because it always sounds like those guys are having so much fun. But for the desert island if I had to choose today, it would be like, Duke Ellington and the Beatles. Tomorrow I might choose Yusef Lateef and Sly and the Family Stone. BTW, a good drinking song for the list, Johnny Guitar Watson, "I'm Gettin' Drunk." Sorry if somebody has already mentioned it.

Anonymous said...

I understand that's the deal they offered Napoleon, until he got pissed off and pointed out that the record player hadn't been invented yet. Anyway, I'm going to be a contrarian and pick Ginger over Marianne.

Anonymous said...

...and yet, and yet...here we go: Miles is a no-brainer for me - huge, varied, consistent dicography (even the '80s stuff is pretty good), with Coltrane, Hancock, and on and on, ceded the spotlight as often as not.

Beyond that, I'll say Marianne Faithfull (weird choice, I guess, but she covers a lot of ground nicely), and leave spot 3 open depending on my mood when sentenced.

Ramone666 said...

I´d take Dylan and Coltrane to that magical island I guess... but I hope I´m allowed to bring a full and diverse iPod classic this day and age.

Matt.H said...

Has anyone heard 'Wille and the Wheel', Wille Nelson & Asleep At The Wheel's tribute to Bob Wills, Milton Brown and the world of western swing. It's really enjoyable and certainly recaptures alot of the magic of those Western Swing classics. It's no wonder he was so big in the 30's cos even in the hardest of times this music can always be guaranteed to bring a smile to your face.
It was Merle's great version of 'San Antonio Rose' along with the rest of his trbute album that introduced me to Bob Wills and it's a form of music I turn to now and then when I feel the need to lift my spirits. No wonder he was considered 'the King' by Waylon.

Anonymous said...

Doug Sahm, Emmylou Harris, and Hank williams.

Rockstar Aimz said...

The Sadies do a bunch of great Bob Wills covers. I can't remember if they have recorded them, but they definitely do them live.

On my island I would take Bobby D. and Johnny C.

swboy said...

Ray Charles...